The Bruce
Dunfermline Abbey
In a remarkable example of serendipity, the first of the four performances of this new “cathedral opera”, composed by Kazakh student Rakhat-Bi Abdyssagin as part of his doctorate and marking the 750th anniversary of the birth of Scottish hero King Robert the Bruce, landed on the 100th birthday of the current clan chieftain, Andrew Bruce.
The 11th Earl of Elgin and Kincardine was a guest of honour at the last of the four, in Dunfermline Abbey, where his illustrious ancestor is buried, and he must surely have been well-pleased with this remarkable new work. Abdyssagin, who turned 25 last month, is already a hero in his native land to judge by the air-time given to his work already on Kazakhstan TV. In this performance, however, he shared that status with the dozen young singers from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland who realised his score, and especially tenor Alfred Mitchell who sang the title role.
Not to rain on his parade, but the composer’s claim to have created a new genre of “cathedral opera” is pushing it a bit. What Abdyssagin has composed is to all intents and purposes an oratorio, and one in the established format of organ, choir and soloist, albeit that it was costumed, colourfully and with a healthy quotient of bling, from the Kate Kennedy Trust collection at St Andrew’s University. Britten’s church parables are also a clear antecedent.
Other crucial figures were conductor Lucy Callen and Professor Alan Riach of Glasgow University in the role of poet John Barbour, whose words supplied the libretto. He is also one of a long list of academic advisers the young composer credits as consultants for both the words and the music.
The former were selected from the Early Scots dramatic poem that first chronicled the exploits of King Robert, while the latter was uncompromisingly modern, drawing on contemporary writing for the pipe organ and played with superb fluidity by the composer himself. The power and complexity of the instrumental part was matched initially by Riach’s declamatory recitation and then in the dialogue with the choir, who were as often unaccompanied, with music that was full of challenging intervals and inventive cadences, multi-layered and very demanding.
The same could be said for the solo part which Mitchell tackled with admirable confidence and assurance, revealing a full-toned tenor voice, especially impressive at the top of his range. Abdyssagin had written increasingly complex ornamentation for him as the work progressed, but it was the relatively simple setting of the final couplet – translated by Riach as “Freedom gives solace to everyone, You live at ease when you live free” – that concluded the performance on a gentler and moving note.
It is 35 years since R. S. Silver’s play The Bruce did not materialise at the 1989 Edinburgh International Festival, despite director Frank Dunlop’s enthusiasm for it. A bold promoter would book a Fringe run for this new Bruce and give this year’s programme some meaty tourist-fodder.
Keith Bruce
Pictured: Allan Riach, Rakhat-Bi Abdyssagin and Alfred Mitchell with the RCS ensemble